Concord FC Spring Travel

The purpose of this email is to provide important updateS on NCSA/Concord FC Soccer. To gain a better understanding, I encourage all parents with interest in the 2018 Spring/Summer TRAVEL season to reference my previous correspondence here before continuing. You will see important "next step" items in bolded green print, shortly in this correspondence. Please review the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section at the end of this email, to help clarify any questions you may have, prior to contacting a coach.

With that said...

NCSA/Concord FC has been focusing on its identity. NCSA has had the unique benefit of having Brett W. Gould (our Director of Coaching) share with us from his experience as an organizational leadership and marketing consultant. Brett has encouraged our organization to focus on four main areas, to be able to best communicate our culture as a club.

WHO are we?

WHY do we exist?

WHAT do we believe?

HOW will we apply those core values?

NCSA (Our Parent Organization) President, Jake Wilkins, immediately envisioned the four points on a compass. This translates to how Concord FC has continued to evolve as a club, and helps us to define the strategic direction we are moving in. This type of thinking brought us to our mission and vision statements.

To provide an exceptional soccer organization appropriately structured to accommodate any level of play commensurate with our players' individual ability, potential, and interest, and to promote a positive youth sports culture that teaches life lessons for all players in the Northern Chautauqua Soccer Association community.

VISION STATEMENT

The Northern Chautauqua Soccer Association aspires to be an outstanding educational-athletic organization that:

Provides quality player development through exceptional coaches and volunteers;

Promotes a love of soccer in our community and a healthy lifestyle; and

Inspires pride and the highest level of sportsmanship in our players, coaches and parents.

As previously announced, NCSA/Concord FC applied to the Buffalo & Western New York Junior Soccer League in August 2017. As of January 19, 2018, the Concord FC committee is pleased to announce that Concord FC was accepted and will have teams in the Buffalo & Western New York Junior Soccer League, in addition to the Southern Tier Travel Soccer League, for the 2018 Spring Season. These two leagues in conjunction, offer a comprehensive experience for our athletes.

Coaches have been selected, and have been assessing players, to place on teams. Concord FC is a competitive club and playing time and/or placement on a specific team is not guaranteed. These decisions are made based on several factors by members of the Concord FC staff. Factors such as, but not limited to, ability, attendance, punctuality, attitude, effort, behavior, social skills, emotional control, physical maturity, and focus will be considered in determining these decisions. An athlete’s placement and/or playing time will be constantly evaluated and may change throughout the entire season. These decisions are made in the best interest of the athlete and their development as a person and player.

Please refer to the table below to contact the coach of your child(s) age/gender if you have not registered your child, and they still have an interest in playing Spring/Summer Travel Soccer for Concord FC in 2018. The coach will advise you of current availability, and appropriate next steps. BWNYJSL teams will be created first, and remaining players will be placed on a STTSL waiting list. When and if there are enough players on a waiting list to enter that team, you will be notified. There will be no cost to be on a waiting list and no family will be required to register until their child is placed. Families who have already registered, will be refunded their money if their child is not placed on a team due to the unavoidable situation where there are not enough players to form a second team.

Please DO NOT proceed to registration until you receive word from a coach to do so. If you have already done so prior to receiving this correspondence, that is fine. We will be working to place your child on an appropriate team. In the event that the numbers do not support another team, we will reach out to you to communicate possible next steps. We will also reach out to neighboring soccer clubs to try to help your child find a soccer home for the next year if our club cannot place your child on a team due to low numbers.

As stated throughout the past year, it is our club's desire to find a place for every interested child to play competitive soccer as possible. You can be assured that the volunteers working on this process care deeply about your child, their development, and your overall experience as a family with our club. We will do our very best to honor our commitment to walk with you, for as long as you wish to walk with our club and support our mission and vision as an organization. We are very excited you are here!

We would like to share two important points that may impact your child's decision to want to participate in travel soccer. Part of fine-tuning the player experience and creating the healthiest environment for player development, is listening to the wisdom of many mentors.

That said, here are those points:

· Our NCSA HOUSE (formerly known as "Rec") League will be for Little Kickers (starting at age 3) through 12U.

· If a player plays travel soccer, they will "graduate" out of the house league. This "graduation" can occur at any age from Little Kickers through 12U. Ie...A 9 year old house league player could try-out for a travel team. If the child is offered a place on the team, they would "graduate" out of house league, and play travel soccer only. This approach will allow us to tailor our training experiences in both HOUSE and TRAVEL leagues to the most appropriate development levels for your children.

Thank you for your interest in NCSA/Concord FC!

Here are the coach contacts for TRAVEL SOCCER:

Age Group

Coach

Coach’s Email

9U CO-ED

(birth year 2009)

Phillip Cook

pcook@dunkirk.wnyric.org

11U Male

(birth years 2007-2008)

Aaron Pietro

Aaronpietro@gmail.com

13U Male

(birth years 2005-2006)

13-14U Female

(birth years 2004-2005)

Patrick Gondek

Patrick.gondek@fredonia.edu

15U Male

(birth years 2003-2004)

Paul Sellari

Paul.sellari@dftel.com

15U-18U Female

(birth years 2000-2003)

Brett W. Gould

brettwgould@gmail.com

17U Male

(birth years 2001-2002)

Mark Maytum

mark.maytum@dftel.com

FROM THE NCSA/CONCORD FC FAQ PAGE

WHAT IS CONCORD FC (CFC) TRAVEL?

Welcome to the Concord Futbol Club (CFC). CFC was established with the purpose of providing competitive travel soccer experiences to the youth of Northern Chautauqua County and the surrounding communities. CFC is the travel branch of the Northern Chautauqua Soccer Association (NCSA). CFC provides an opportunity to teach, learn, develop, and display life skills. Individuals must give of themselves to make a team cohesive and successful. How a player reacts to positive and negative situations is the standard of measurement for both team and individual success. Players must realize that as a member of CFC they represent not only the soccer team, but also their parents, coaches, and community. Being a part of CFC is a demanding responsibility. It is the goal of CFC to provide a high quality developmental experience in a fun and safe manner for all the players participating in the program. As a volunteer organization, we look forward to your participation enabling our community’s success as we compete with clubs across Western New York.

HOW DO YOU GET ON A TRAVEL TEAM?

Travel team players are required to attend “try-outs” to be evaluated. “Try-outs” is a comprehensive evaluation system to assist coaches placing the child on a team appropriately. Note, you must attend at least one try-out to be considered for a CFC Travel team. The only exception to this rule is if a coach deems it necessary to place additional players on a roster that could not attend a try-out. In those instances, the coach's decision will be based on their knowledge of the player through having seen them play prior, or through coaching contacts of their choice, that support these decisions. The decision of the coach and club is final.

WHAT IS THE BUFFALO & WESTERN NEW YORK JUNIOR SOCCER LEAGUE (BWNYJSL)?

The Buffalo & Western New York Junior Soccer League is the home of entry-level youth travel soccer for the Buffalo-Niagara Region. The BWNYJSL provides a playing venue for youth players in the 'Under 10' through 'Under 19' age groups. Each league age group will normally play regular league games on a standard weekday. Play will start no earlier than April 23rd of each playing season and will end no later than August 10th. The League shall draw up a schedule of games to be played in each Division at least two weeks before the start of their season.

WHAT DAY OF THE WEEK ARE THE BWNYJSL GAMES PLAYED?

*Note that these are subject to change year to year; based upon the assumption of the Buffalo Western New York Junior Soccer League (www.bwnyjsl.org)

•U8/U9/U10 age group (boys and girls) -- typically play on Friday evenings – with games starting at 6:45pm

•U11/U12 age group (girls) -- typically play on Tuesday evenings – with games starting at 6:45pm

•U13/U14 age group (girls) -- typically play on Monday evenings – with games starting at 6:45pm

•U15/U16 age group (girls) -- typically play on Thursday evenings – with games starting at 6:45pm

•U17/U19 age group (girls) -- typically play on Wednesday evenings – with games starting at 6:45pm

•U11/U12 age group (boys) -- typically play on Monday evenings – with games starting at 6:45pm

•U13/U14 age group (boys) -- typically play on Tuesday evenings – with games starting at 6:45pm

•U15/U16 age group (boys) -- typically play on Tuesday evenings – with games starting at 6:45pm

•U17/U19 age group (boys) -- typically play on Wednesday evenings – with games starting at 6:45pm

•players are typically expected to be at the field at 6:00/6:15pm for 6:45pm games.

WHERE DO THE BWNYJSL TEAMS/PLAYERS TRAVEL TO? WHERE DO THEY PLAY?

Many of the Spring Travel League games will be played in the Buffalo area. The games may be played at Niagara Falls, Hamburg, Clarence, Tonawanda, Amherst, Orchard Park, West Seneca, East Aurora, Lancaster or another town in that surrounding area, depending on what teams are in your team’s division.

Some games may be played at Holy Trinity, Dunkirk, when agreed upon by the Buffalo District coach.

WHAT IS THE SOUTHERN TIER TRAVEL SOCCER LEAGUE? (STTSL)

(Www.sttsl.org)

The Southern Tier Travel Soccer League offers entry-level travel soccer for boys and girls ages 9 through 18. League play usually begins the last weekend of April and continues through to the end of June/early July. Most league games for U15 and U18 are scheduled for Sunday. Most league games for U9, U11 and U13 are scheduled for Saturday evenings. Occasionally games are played other days.

The league encompasses the southern tier areas of Allegany, Chautauqua and Cattaraugus counties with teams also in the Southern Erie County NY, as well as Northwest, PA.

It is the expressed purpose of the league to provide equal opportunities to all boys and girls to advance their soccer skills and knowledge of the game, while still maintaining a fun and rewarding experience.